-Caveat Lector-
WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
ARTICLE 4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Corruption in the Office of Navy JAG?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: An intriguing case that will leave you with many questions. Maybe it
warrants another, much closer look to ensure that true justice is served.
After all, as George Washington once stressed - soldiers (all military
people) are citizens too. We're interested in your opinions --send your
comments to Mark Crissman, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
***********************************************************
By Paul Connors and Mark Crissman
Sr. Air Force & Navy Editors
Walter Fitzpatrick, a 20-year retired Navy officer who has two steel pins in
his shoulder from a helicopter crash in the Arabian Gulf in 1987, was
convicted at a special court martial in 1990. Since then, he has
single-handedly labored to restore his record and his honor. Despite clear
evidence of unlawful command influence in his court-martial, Navy lawyers
stand defiantly in the way of his Constitutional right to a fair trial. The
Office of the Navy Judge Advocate General refuses to grant retrial or appeal.
As Executive Officer of USS MARS (AFS-1), LCDR Fitzpatrick held
responsibility of the Navy's number one Auxiliary Fleet Ship. These floating
fleet industrial supply centers are what make our "blue water Navy" global by
nature. Destined for command at sea of a destroyer, his career was torpedoed
by his own chain of command.
As you read through this military justice obstacle course, ask how anyone
could have survived? The following list of evidence was taken from facts
contained and released in records in the case of the United States v. Walter
F. Fitzpatrick through the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA). Several
criminal complaints have been filed by Fitzpatrick in this case:
The Staff Judge Advocate (SJA) was assigned as the preliminary investigating
officer. Witness statements were taken and hidden. Witnesses were "gagged" or
otherwise influenced or pressured.
Crucial documents were collected as evidence, never to be seen again.
Conflicts of interest arose and were dismissed by the Admiral/Convening
Authority. The investigating command retained control of the court martial
even though legally mandated to divest investigative responsibilities.
Non-crimes were contorted into alleged criminal acts.
The SJA orally briefed the Admiral/CA without written investigation report. A
list of recommended charges was presented. The Admiral/CA made his choices;
whereupon the SJA later wrote his first report. The report declared the
accused "guilty" before the trial even began.
Investigation reports were buried. An alternative form of disciplinary
action, known as Captains Mast was not properly offered. A forced
Court-Martial ensued.
The CA, as one of the accusers, with the assistance of his SJA the other
accuser, selected potential jurors from the staff social roster of Combat
Logistics Group 1. Three CLG-1 jurors were chosen despite the availability of
numerous unprejudiced personnel from surrounding impartial Navy commands.
One juror who was legally challenged from judgment was later called as a
prosecution witness.
A contrived review process, punctuated by a confession prepared and forged by
the defense attorney (using the accused's name), given to the SJA accuser,
was inserted into the official record after the trial.
And recently, ten years after the original trial, crucial pages have gone
missing from the record of trial.
The Oklahoma Bar Association is actively investigating two Navy lawyers who
participated in this miscarriage of justice.
At Fitzpatrick's trial, 39 of 40 charges were returned with a verdict of not
guilty. Fitzpatrick was found guilty of one felony count of mismanaging MWR
funds. The felony was later downgraded to a misdemeanor in January of 1993.
Former LT Matthew Bogoshian, the Navy officer who prosecuted the 40-charge
case against him, now says there was little to support any of it.
Congressional inquiries into Fitzpatrick's case by Congressman Norm Dicks,
and Senators Slade Gorton and Patty Murray have also been stymied.
SFTT has requested Post Trial Advice through FOIA requests that have been to
date denied. This public information, which is legally recorded in his record
of trial has been refused.
The Navy must abide by the laws of the land and do more than pay lip service
to the Constitution it and its members are sworn to uphold and defend. Walt
Fitzpatrick clearly did not get a fair trial. It is time for the Navy to hand
over records in Fitzpatrick's case.
Citizen soldiers designed the Uniform Code of Military Justice enacted in
1951. It's implementation after World War II by those prescient warriors was
clearly intended to protect the rights of America's most precious commodity.
Since the UCMJ was enacted, hundreds of cases throughout the military justice
system have been appealed and overturned for undue command influence. None of
the abusing commanders have been prosecuted, much less convicted for their
offenses. Zero. The Fitzpatrick case is a prime example of a past case,
brought into the present, where Pentagon officials have covered up and
protected the misdeeds of their pals.
For Senators Orrin Hatch and Patrick Leahy and Representatives Henry Hyde and
John Conyers, ranking members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, a
probe the Office of Navy JAG for unlawful command influence in the U.S. v.
Fitzpatrick is long overdue. Violation of Article 37 of the UCMJ (unlawful
command influence) cannot go unpunished. The UCMJ must also be changed to
incorporate a process for random jury selection.
Walt Fitzpatrick is one American whose career was effectively ruined by the
venality and vindictiveness of a small group of officers. If an institution
can wrongly prosecute one of its own, then, no one is safe from the
possibility of wrongful prosecution and conviction.
===========================================================
ARTICLE 5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Guard issues: Air National Guard/Reserves oftentimes more experienced
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: Stu Crocket makes an important point when he says that my recent article
about Guard/Reserves showed a slant towards my experiences with ground
forces. He is absolutely right to point out that the fliers in Air Guard and
Reserve are oftentimes much more experienced than their active counterparts.
We have total agreement on the fact that even these more experienced assets
should only be used when the national interest is clear.
************************************************************
By Stu Crockett, Texas
I take it that your perspective about the National Guard and Reserves is from
your Army view.
Admittedly my own perspective is a little dated. I served on active Duty in
the AF from May '71 to Dec '76 and the ANG (George Bush's old unit) from then
until May '92. The difference between the active duty AF and Guard/Reserves
is the experience level. During this period the average flying time for an
active duty fighter squadron was in the 500-1000 hours range. In the Guard
we'd pick up aircrew after 6-8 years of active duty. Our average flying time
was well over 2000 hours per pilot.
There was a period several years ago when one AF general directed that
aircrew would wear small stars on the sleeve of the flight suit. There would
be a silver star for every 500 hours of flying time and a gold one for combat
time. When we interfaced with active duty units, we'd see an occasional gold
star and most had zero to two silver stars. The squadron commander might have
three. Many of our people had six or eight stars with a couple being gold.
(This was prior to Desert Storm)
>From the maintenance standpoint, the typical flight line guy that I'd deal
with on active duty had at most three stripes (E4), but more often one or two
stripes. When I got to the Guard, most flight line types (crew chiefs) were
E6 or higher. Granted these were full time technicians but the confidence we
had in the jets was unsurpassed. I remember one of the crew chiefs telling a
WWII story when I first got in the ANG. These guys have been turning wrenches
on jets for their whole careers.
On active duty they'd either get out after the first tour (and we'd get them)
or stay in had to get off the flightline (or out of the cockpit) to show
"career broadening" if they wanted to get promoted. This was the case whether
you were talking about a driver or a maintainer.
There is one point from your article that is very valid. The ANG/Reserves
have civilian jobs. Most served willingly when called up for Desert
Shield/Storm because they saw the national interest. They were willing to
"take heat' from employers and many employers saw the national interest as
well. Today our military's (active and reserve) commitments are "pizza
delivery and meals on wheels". They don't see the national interest. Many do
not want to risk civilian careers for these "missions". I hear my old unit
has trouble getting F-16 pilots. They get a cush airline pilot job but still
have the desire to serve. But when they find out the commitments,
deployments, family separations, etc. they say that is why they left active
duty.
===============================================================
ARTICLE 6
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Guard Readiness - The 48th Brigade was Ready but Not Willing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: What is the truth? I received this response to my recent article about
Total Army integration. The writer presents a totally different perspective
why the 48Th Brigade was decertified from wartime deployment by Army
leadership during exercises at the National Training Center (NTC) and
questions some of the "official feedback" that became public opinion. Does
this kind of problem still exist and how do we fix it? We want your input,
please.
***********************************************************
By L. J.
I was a member of the Iowa Guard Maintenance Battalion that supported the
48Th Brigade during its training at the NTC, in preparation for deployment to
the Gulf War.
The truth of that is that the unit WAS ready for war. It wasn't the Army's
fault. They were WELL trained. At least from our perspective, they simply did
not want to fight.
They played stupid. Figuring that they would not pick them for overseas duty,
most of the unit refused to train, did not want to go to war, and
deliberately destroyed their equipment, refused orders, trashed the post
bowling alley, the EM club, constantly fought, deliberately threw the war
games, and just plain would not cooperate. These people were stubborn as
hell.
Many figured if they sucked bad enough, they wouldn't get sent. A couple
companies were up to speed, but the morale of the rest of the brigade just
dragged them down. They didn't care to fight, and most were homesick and
wanted to go home.
Many platoons boycotted the whole thing and refused to take orders, hiding
their tracks and disappearing back to post, only to get caught by the MP's
and dragged back out in the field to b punished. I heard this countless times
from their troops as we worked on their equipment, and always saw their
troops hiding out in the clubs and the PX when they should have been involved
in the training.
They blamed their poor performance on the equipment, which supposedly broke
down all the time. But much of the damage to the equipment were such acts of
stupidity that they could have easily been construed as deliberate. You
should have seen what they did to the tracks and the field radios!
I was serving with a maintenance unit supporting the training equipment the
rotating units borrowed to train with. We had to go out into the field and do
recovery and on site repairs. The equipment was fully operational when given
to them. And it was fully repaired for the unit after them.
We were a good maintenance unit and that equipment was the best it had been
in years when it was issued to them, and the entire command knew it. And they
knew the brigade was trained well prior to activation. There was no excuse
for their poor performance.
Every day, we put up with bad morale from these people, and were repairing
their equipment. The attitude was when we would show up on site to fix a
track, "take your time, the longer it's broken the longer we can sit around
and do nothing!"
They would pitch up awnings and lawn chairs and barbecue while we worked, and
even after the equipment was fixed. They would radio in and say their
equipment was still down, when it wasn't.
It seemed like every day they were hunting for AWOLs and deserters. They had
to repeat through three three-week training rotations, and set back the
training of other units waiting to take the field. Many enlisted lost at
least one reduction in pay grade for their misconduct on post.
It was rumored on post that several officers in the brigade resigned their
commission as well, and several NCO's were stripped of rank. Whether that is
true or not, I don't know. But for sure, no one in the unit was allowed to
wear the US ARMY patch on their uniforms and no displaying of rank as
punishment for their rag-tag behavior.
The last standing order from the post Commander was that they would "remain
on this god forsaken fort, rotting in the desert until the day of rapture or
until they all come together as a unit and decide to fight for our country."
They were there long after the cease-fire in the Gulf. They lived in tents in
the desert as far away from post as the army could get them. They ate MREs,
and bathed in canteen water during their entire stay. The post was ordered
not to allow any of the 48th Brigade members on post, and if any were seen on
post, to contact the MP unit. Bottom line, they were left to rot in the
Mohave until they would begin to cooperate. They never decided to continue
with the mission nor comply with any of the Army's orders.
They were eventually sent home, and were given permission for voluntary
general discharges for those who did not want to stay in.
My take on it all is that the Georgia 48th Brigade might as well have
mutinied to keep from going to war. There is no other way to explain it all.
Others on post informed us that something wasn't right, because the unit was
top notch and scored high marks. They had been labeled one of the best
armored units in the entire army, and were very good during their last
training exercise the year before.
I just wanted to convey that to you, so you know that they were the best and
largest armored brigade in the country, but THEY laid down when it really
counted. It was not the National Guard's fault or training and certainly not
the Army's. The best plans in the military can fail if the troops refuse to
obey or their morale is at an all-time low.
============================================================
ARTICLE 7
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Navy: A Case for Equal Standards for All
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed.: How Naval aviation survival training has suffered from social
engineering.
************************************************************
By Ashley Evans
I have been reading commentary in your newsletter regarding the upcoming
election and questions some of our personnel have raised. One that hit home
was in the 9/20/00 issue from a Army drill sergeant about Sensitivity and
Consideration training.
I was a Naval Aviation Survival Instructor for two tours with the Navy. I saw
countless instances of the dumbing down of our forces for years ('91-'93 and
'95-'96).
We had one minority female who had a phobia of water and as such we were
required to utilize two male instructors per remedial session with her. After
four progress review boards she was finally transferred to another designator
that wouldn't require such high standards of survivability.
One of my senior enlisted instructors observed a white male hiding in the
head while his class conducted a graded cross-country course. As the class
returned he slipped out among them after splashing water on his face to
"simulate" his exhaustion. He blatantly lied about running the course and his
scores. After being given three additional opportunities to complete the
course (of which he failed each one and lied about each of the timed events
while an instructor was observing with a stop watch) he was finally dropped
from the program.
During my tenure I was also able to observe tremendous changes in the
"Obstacle Course" to better fit the role women were playing in our new Navy.
One particular obstacle was a 14' wall with a rope climb which the women were
not required to climb. This was followed by a 6' wall which they were
required to manually climb over (the men were required to climb an 8' wall).
The 14' wall was deemed by the politically correct higher ups to be a bad
moral builder and poor enforcer of political correctness so it was changed to
be a 14' cargo net climb. This was done so that the women would feel more
"empowered".
And if that wasn't enough the Drill Instructors at NAS Pensacola have always
been USMC Drill Instructors. When I attended AOCS and was "cared" for by SSGT
Rick Bowling USMC, the cursing that I and my classmates received was rivaled
only by that seen in the movie, "Full Metal Jacket". Once again the political
correctness of the higher ups felt that any type of cursing at recruits was
detrimental to them and that they should be treated with the utmost respect
as human beings.
After all, wars are fought against other human beings and as such shouldn't
we really care for and revere our adversaries more than we do for our
brothers (and sisters of course) in arms?
All this reduction of standards did nothing toward furthering our readiness.
Instead, it has lowered the quality of all our recruits to meet minority and
female quotas that subsequently weaken our military through this "political
affirmative correctness action".
=========================================================
ARTICLE 8
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Use us for the Proper Reasons, not just to bail out the Regulars
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ed: Representative for the numerous responses I received on the proper use of
our Guard and Reserves. Use them right and they'll fight! Thanks for all the
feedback.
***************************************************************************
By MAJ John M.
Hear, hear!
As a National Guardsman for the last 20 years, you have described my
sentiments exactly. I raised my right hand those twenty years ago as a
conscious decision to be ready to DEFEND this country AND serve my local
community.
I did not raise my right hand to become one of the world's policemen or a
drug cop.
The current trend is a shift in strategic thinking and the nation hasn't been
asked about it. To use the reserve components in the manner in which it is
being used flies in the face of what the force has been designed for.
One thing your article didn't address was the fact that the current missions
being assigned to the RC force are those for which they haven't been trained.
Soldiers are not policemen and policemen are not soldiers.
Is there a Special Skill Identifier producing course we can send our soldiers
to? Is peacekeeping to become a METL task? If so, when are our MTOE's going
to reflect riot gear?
*COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107,
any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use
without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational
purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ]
Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists!
******************************************************************************
*******************
A vote for Bush or Gore is a vote to continue Clinton policies!
A vote for Buchanan is a vote to continue America!
Therefore a vote for Gore or Bush is a wasted vote for America!
Don't waste your vote! Vote for Patrick Buchanan!
Today, candor compels us to admit that our vaunted two-party system is a
snare and a delusion, a fraud upon the nation. Our two parties have become
nothing but two wings of the same bird of prey...
Patrick Buchanan
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
